Mushroom toxins?

[dodo99]

Hi there,

I recently added some hairy mushrooms to my 29gal. One of them I guess was torn when the LFS took it out of its tank. It basically started to desintegrate from the rock yesterday. It was releasing this white slimy substance into the water. I tried as best I could to remove the rest of the dead mushroom from the rock and tried to use a net to capture some of the slime floating around in the water.

Today my percula won't eat, sluggish etc. He doesn't have any noticable lesions, or ich. I'm doing a 10gal water change at the moment, and started running some carbon. Will this be enough? ..or did the shroom release some toxins (other than amonia from decomposition etc...)

~Shakes fist at dead shroom~

 

[Anonymous]

I have never had a shroom become toxic. Most times when a shroom gets torn a new one will grow from the stump. You can prop. them this way and expand your stock once they are est. in the tank. The clown might just be a little nerv. from all the activity of your hands in and out of the tank with the shroom. Most rem. the net and will stress a little when it has been in the tank.

 

[dodo99]

That's a good point. He seemed fine last evening though. He's just been staying in his usual sleeping spot at the front/right corner of the tank. When I fed him this morning, I was shocked he didn't eat. He's usually gulping air bubbles so much because he's trying to gobble everything at the surface before the damsel gets involved. The damsel ate as usual though this morning.

I just did the water change. I'll have to wait N see I guess.

 

[dodo99]

Update: Percula is back to normal, about 48 hrs after the water change. I gave away my blue damsels though to help a buddy with a new tank cycle. They were too territorial in my lil' 29gal.

 

[spsmike]

They could have released stinging strings into the water.I dont know what they are called but they wont hurt anything unless they touch it.

 

[SnowManSnow]

sps is right ... shrooms can release stinging tenticles... especially if they are stressed during a move... that kind of thing. They SHOULDNT hurt anything as long as they dont come in contact with it... like other corals and so forth. I seriously doubt that your fish was harmed by a shroom... probably just shocked from the change or somthing.